The First Finnish Arabic Dictionary
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Alexandria—
On the fringe lines of the Alexandrina International Book Fair, the BA will organize on Tuesday, 27 February 2007, a seminar on the first Finnish Arabic Dictionary, by Dr. Saed Sadek, Representative of the Finnish Institute for Middle East Studies, chaired by Dr. Khaled Azab, Director, BA Media Department.
Dr. Saed Sadek stated that the Arab World uses 7 languages only out of 69170 languages, which is the total languages of the world, of which 410 are live languages. He added that Scandinavian languages are not taught in Egyptian universities, despite the fact that Finland exports wood and paper on a wide range to the Arab world. Dr. Sadek ascribed the wide use of other languages to several factors, inter alia, trade, economic relations, military reasons, media, and modern communication means, such as mobile phones.
With the expansion of relations between Finland and the Arab world, businessmen are now interested in learning more Finnish terms. HE Ambassador Mahmoud Mahdy Abdullah, Former Egyptian Ambassador to Finland, thought of compiling Finnish terms and starting a Finnish Arabic Dictionary. A committee of researchers was set to start looking for the terms used on a wider scale. The dictionary was produced in 1300 pages and contained 46000 words to serve as a bridge of communication and dialogue between the Arab world and the Finnish culture. At the end of the seminar, Dr. Saed Sadek signed the dictionary and donated it to the Library.